Game Description:In the follow-up to Valve's wildly popular zombie-slaying FPS, players assume the roles of four new characters, as they struggle to survive against unending hordes of the undead beneath the sunny skies of the American South. Dispose of the newly designed zombie types with the help of new melee weapons, including an ax, a chainsaw, a baseball bat, and even a frying pan. And thanks to the addition of even more modes, maps and items, players can expect to have their hands full when the zombie apocalypse rears its undead head once again.

Left 4 Dead 2 Review

Left 4 Dead 2 is a worthy sequel and at no point comes across as a game that should have been released as a downloadable expansion to the original. You are getting a true sequel here. Valve may have produced Left 4 Dead 2 in a single year, but it's a game intelligently engineered for fans of the original and meant to frustrate you in the most entertaining way possible while you bleed out on the floor screaming for help.

The Pros

Melee completely changes how you play the game

Uses the environment to screw with the player over and over again

Just enough additions to make it feel like a worthy sequel

The Cons

Campaign quality is uneven, some look and feel generic

Source engine is starting to show its age

Like the first one, always play with friends

There’s one rule to survival in Left 4 Dead 2: never, ever stop moving. Unfortunately (for you), everything in Left 4 Dead 2 was made with the sole purpose of stopping you from advancing. The designers at Valve studied what you, me and everyone else were doing while playing the original Left 4 Dead and specifically engineered new enemies and hazards to make our collective lives a living hell…as if the endless walking dead weren't enough of a headache.

The Rumors Are True

Let me address the elephant in the room: Left 4 Dead 2 is a worthy sequel and at no point comes across as a game that should have been released as a downloadable expansion for the original. You are getting a true sequel here. Valve may have produced Left 4 Dead 2 in a single year, but it's a game intelligently engineered for fans of the original and meant to frustrate you in the most entertaining way possible while you bleed out on the floor screaming for help.

Many players' first instinct will be to have two firearms at their side, but melee isn't just an option in Left 4 Dead 2, it's a necessity to wade through the sheer army of enemies. The most pleasant surprise comes from how much the addition of melee weapons fundamentally changes the game. Melee weapons are powerful enough that I often wound up using a katana, axe or blade as my primary means of attacking the zombies, flipping the dynamics of play from Left 4 Dead. It's an extension of the push back button from the original Left 4 Dead, which advanced players would use for crowd control with hordes. The push back option still exists in Left 4 Dead 2 but comes enhanced with the available melee weaponry. Suddenly, not only are you pushing back, but you're slashing up arms, legs and heads in the process, providing plenty of opportunities to rush through zombie crowds and take dozens of them out at the same time (not to mention the amount of precious ammunition that's saved from missed shots in the process).

The significance of firearms hasn't been reduced, however, only altered. Melee weapons won't help much against the special infected, especially the new ones. In addition to constantly moving forward, staying together in a group is crucial to Left 4 Dead strategy, which is why each of the new special infected was created to destroy that basic tactic. The Jockey hops on a character and steers them in the direction of bad things, the Spitter creates a living pool of acid to scatter everywhere and the Charger can knock over an entire team at once. These new special infected join the rest of the largely unchanged existing lineup; however, the Witch has seen some welcome modifications. She no longer sits motionless around corners but will often be a walking, screaming terror. The addition of movement though means smart teams can avoid dangerous encounters. Well, until a well-placed Charger knocks you into her path.

Though the A.I. Director was the star of Left 4 Dead, the five campaigns in Left 4 Dead 2 showcase a conscious decision by Valve's level designers to mask its role in the game. The levels aren't really any more open-ended than the original campaign slate, but they've been widened just enough to give players the impression of more directional choice. The presence of numerous daylight stages, letting you better see the world around you, goes a long way toward making this effective. These tricks allow you to focus more on exploring the environment, rather than wondering which funnel the A.I. Director will send the next horde wave from.

Sometimes Being Too Good Is A Problem

The campaigns themselves, however, are sometimes uneven in quality, each having moments of brilliance but only two proving to be standout experiences from start to finish. “Dead Center,” Left 4 Dead 2's opening campaign and an obvious riff on George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead, begins as a wonderful introduction to Valve's new attempts to confuse the player. Players start in a burning apartment complex, constantly worrying about falling to death while window hopping and squinting through layers of pluming smoke from seemingly every direction. Then, you enter a yawn-worthy generic suburban mall encompassing endless hallways for killing time until the campaign's exciting conclusion, which puts a spin on the "press the button and fight the horde until help arrives" stage ender with a frantic race to dump a series of gas cans into an escape car (also a clever mini-training session for the excellent multiplayer mode Scavenge). Similar issues plague “Dark Carnival” and “The Parish”: both are campaigns with a handful of great moments that simply pale in comparison to Valve's achievements in “Hard Rain” and “Swamp Fever.”

Despite being built on the clearly aging Source engine (which is put to impressive work here, but could use a refresh before the next game), Left 4 Dead 2's highlight campaign, “Hard Rain,” is one of the most impressive environmental set pieces programmed for a video game. You will feel like you're in the middle of a hurricane in “Hard Rain.” The campaign's gimmick drops a storm, which floats in and out of control at random. When the rain, lightning and wind kick up, it's a mad dash to the nearest nearly-submerged house for cover from the impending horde, as the storm creates a terrifying fog of war that covers zombies in a thick green mist. My heart started racing on more than one occasion, a tremendous triumph for a game I was playing with three other people online. That doesn't usually happen to me in multiplayer.

A Little Help (And Hurt) From My Friends

The new Scavenge gameplay mode almost makes Versus irrelevant. Each mode retains individual strengths, but the greatest satisfaction of survivor-versus-infected multiplayer comes from taking control of the zombies. Scavenge's gas guzzling scenario is faster paced than any other comparable mode in Left 4 Dead 2, giving each side ample opportunities to scramble for just a few more seconds of life and hop into the twisted minds of the special infected and terrorize their friends. Valve has wisely kept multiplayer mostly untouched, focusing on enhancing proven formulas to accentuate the experience for players on each side.

Valve should also be commended for continued support of split-screen. Even though Left 4 Dead 2's visuals take a serious hit when played over split-screen, the ability to play with friends in the same room is something many games have sadly abandoned in the age of online connectivity.

The emphasis on atmosphere and melee will go a long way in reminding gamers why they loved Valve's zombie apocalypse in the first place, but a little more time in the oven for the inevitable sequel should hopefully produce a campaign with more balanced highs and lows than what’s on display here. Despite the initial skepticism when it was unveiled, Left 4 Dead 2 makes a good case for Valve pulling off annual iterations of the series. Such a comment comes as the result of several smart, game-changing additions to the sequel, which should reinforce the philosophy of trust many instilled in Valve's decision making process before Left 2 Dead 2's quick announcement. In Valve we trust...again.

Want to hear more about Left 4 Dead 2? Check out this video of reviewer Patrick Klepek talking about the game with X-Play's Adam Sessler!

Left 4 Dead 2 reminded me why online people are complete holes and that they suck so much ass that they will single-handedly kill your entire team cause they have a grudge against the world and did i mention that they are evil scientists hellbent on global domination

it was fun for a week or so for me. i liked the multi-player but none of my friends were into it because they were (and still are) playing MW2. BUT, the rock concert mission was so intense and awesome (even though it didn't make sense....why was there a recording of a band synced with pyrotechnics for no reason?). Over all, I wish I rented it, rather than drop 60 bucks.

DING DONG, THE WITCH IS DEAD~Haha, I always wanted to say that while it's concerning L4D. Anywhoo, I had to put it out there that I'm absolutely loving the new melee weapons! They're really fun, especially the guitar, of which makes noises. I think a 4/5 is a good rating. ^-^

It is a good game, but I would if you already own the first one I wouldn't pay more than 20-25 bucks for this one. It's just too much like the original to warrant paying full price, but if you get a good buy for it than it's definitely a nice addition to your collection (if you enjoyed the first).

I actually was kind of annoyed with Hard Rain, surprised they chose it as the standout campaign. Personally I thought crossing the bridge in the last campaign was the standout moment of the franchise; it's also the most difficult!

you americans are lucky becasue in australia the stupid has censored L4D2 because we don't have a R18 rating on games. all the blood gore is gone and zombies dissapear once you kill them. they cencor it yet we have killed innocent civilians in modern warfare 2, stabbed people in the neck face and spine in assassins creed 2, pushed poeple into jet engines in mad world, chainsawed poeple in saints row 2 and ran down random people in GTA IV but no a zombie getting killed or its head exploding is way too real!

I'll start off by saying I was one of the those valve loyalists who was a little put off by the announcement of L4D2 at E3 this year; not just because I've been waiting for episode 3 to make its debut, but also because they announced it would be released as a full priced game. After much peer pressure I finally caved and purchased the game off Amazon for $29.99 (something I would have happily done off steam if it were offered at that price). I'll say this about the game and the controversy.

If valve had just released this game at this price tag from the get go, I don't think there would have been any controversy at all. Call it what you will, a full sequel, an expansion, an upgrade, whatever, this game still is fundamentally left 4 dead, and buying the same game twice in one year is a little hard for some gamers to stomach, especially when their wallet is running on empty.

The 5 new campaigns, 2 new game modes, and 3 new special infected are indeed very welcome changes to the franchise. The melee weapons I'm less enthused with than the reviewers at x-play appear to be. I still find them to be a bit gimmicky and a tad out of place with the melee shove still in place as secondary fire. I also feel they intentionally made the new pistols (excluding the magnum) less effective to encourage the use of melee weapons which are much more effective against incoming hordes. I'll grant using a katana or chainsaw to dice up waves of incoming zombies can be a satisfying experience, and a useful backup when you run out of ammo. However, I think in general its a better idea to attempt to keep your distance with a firearm than to allow yourself to be constantly swarmed, especially when you're playing the game on expert mode where if you get hit 3 times by a regular zombie you go down. In fact I'd go as far as to say most melee weapons are useless in expert mode.

I've also had a few unpleasant experiences with people online refusing to stop using a melee weapon throughout the entire game. This gets especially obnoxious when you're being pulled away by a smoker or a jockey, and your katana wielding teammate refuses to switch to a firearm while you're life is slowly drained away. Or even worse, when they insist on running up to every boomer and spitter they see and bathing in their goo.

As a bottom line, in my opinion L4D2 like a solid expansion but not a full new game warranting a 50-60$ price tag. Yes there is a lot of new content here, but is it really a new game? Regardless, it's still a lot of fun, and you probably won't be sorry you made the transition even if you were "forced" into it. However, you might find yourself with some buyers remorse if you pay full price. 30-40$ for an expansion pack is acceptable, 50-60$ feels overpriced. I know the G4 staff probably doesn't have to be as careful with their money as some of the other target audiences for games (students) and I think sometimes they forget that in their reviews. I really wish valve had slapped on a discount for people who had purchased the original l4d, its not an unheard of thing to do. I mean, look at CD Projekt Red with Witcher Enhanced edition. Would a 30% discount really have been so much to ask for a little brand loyalty? Maybe I'm just bitter on the subject, but I recommend purchasing L4D2 when you can get a good price for it. Luckily, since its the holidays, you can probably find a good deal on it and pick it up for around 30$.

Lets start with this, dead center is awesome! Its one of my favorite levels!! Swamp fever sucks hard!!! Getting lost ruins the game and when i play alone which i do from time to time i get lost on this one. And what no one seems to note, the game learns from you it really does it changes the specials it sends!!! Nothing could stop me! So it sends a bunch of hunters and a boomer and than i die, and thats the end of me, the game will figure out how to kill you, thats not just the enviroment thats the zombies to, this game IS a 5/5 and when i wrote my review for it i gave it a 100/100 this shoulda been on the list for game of the year and would have had my vote if it was, this game IS awesome and the ONLY problem with it IS Swap fever,

And when all is said and done when a game is better and even the reviwer says it is, you rate it better, and since Left 4 dead got 5/5 this gets 5/5 THATS THE RULE DAMNIT! FOLLOW THE RULE